“Thinking like this, one of sober mind, abandon sophistry and all doubts and worship Shri Rama, who is beautiful, merciful, and the giver of happiness.” (Dohavali, 134)

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अस बिचारि मतिधीर तजि कुतर्क संसय सकल।
भजहु राम रघुबीर करुनाकर सुंदर सुखद ॥

asa bicāri matidhīra taji kutarka saṃsaya sakala।
bhajahu rāma raghubīra karunākara suṃdara sukhada ॥

1. There is no central controller

“You people are crazy. There is no invisible person in the sky who is in charge. There is no person perpetually looking over your shoulders. There is no judgment maker, taking out his handy clipboard and determining your fate based on good and bad deeds.

“Everything is due to randomness. We have no clue what is going on. This is just a collection of chemicals. Stop trying to overthink it. No central controller is going to save you. Mankind is the only hope we have.”

2. There is no purpose to life

“Sorry, but your life does not have meaning. I don’t mean to offend you. Mine doesn’t have meaning, either. We are just here. We take birth. We stay for some time. And then we die. No need to waste time looking for higher meaning. Just go with the flow.”

3. There is no afterlife

“Dude, you seriously think we travel to this magical place called heaven? Come on! Be serious. You can’t even see it. No one has come back from there to tell you what it is like. You are merely hallucinating. At the time of death, everything ends.

“Proof is there in the past. You cannot speak with the departed. Their impact is over. There is no chance to have a conversation with them. You will suffer the same fate. I have the same destiny. Just deal with it.”

4. There is no transmigration of the soul

“You are saying I was someone else in a previous life? I might turn into someone or something else in the next life? I better be good now or I will take birth as a dog? Come on, man. Get real.

“People would be able to remember past lives, then. You would be able to trace things like that. The soul does not transmigrate. And don’t give me that argument of the changing body. I am the same person today as I was during childhood. Okay, I look totally different, but that doesn’t prove anything.”

देहिनो ऽस्मिन् यथा देहे
कौमारं यौवनं जरा
तथा देहान्तर-प्राप्तिर्
धीरस् तत्र न मुह्यति

dehino ‘smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati

“As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.13)

5. There is no God

“Stop with your religious fanaticism. There is no God. It is make-believe. People need a way to cope with the unknown. They are scared of the future. They cling to their sacred books. They worship some character they read about. They assign Divine status to ordinary historical figures. No intelligent person would be gullible enough to buy into that nonsense, that there is some highest being who is infallible, inexhaustible, and living in some other realm.”

…

Goswami Tulsidas offers advice to himself. Like the athlete looking in the mirror just prior to entering the arena. Preparing for the big match, to keep key principles in mind, to not give in to the temptation to stray from the carefully thought-out plan of attack, there is this pep talk in private.

Tulsidas gathers a series of teachings into a collection. They relate to the greatness of Shri Rama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Only a person of sober mind could recount these glories and present them in beautiful poetry. Only a wise person would take the time to contemplate as such and to bless others with confidential insight into the highest matters.

To the person who is matidhira, who remembers the greatness of Rama and how the Supreme Lord gives life to the lifeless, controls time, and can make rocks float on the surface of the ocean, the recommendation is to worship that Rama in devotion.

At the same time, there should not be any doubts. This is the way an honest person deliberates, especially over an important matter. They weigh both sides. They consider every argument. They think the matter over and then reach a decision that they feel confident in.

कच्चिद् एतच् छ्रुतं पार्थ
त्वयैकाग्रेण चेतसा
कच्चिद् अज्ञान-सम्मोहः
प्रणष्टस् ते धनञ्जय

kaccid etac chrutaṁ pārtha
tvayaikāgreṇa cetasā
kaccid ajñāna-sammohaḥ
praṇaṣṭas te dhanañjaya

“O conqueror of wealth, Arjuna, have you heard this attentively with your mind? And are your illusions and ignorance now dispelled?” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 18.72)

In addition to removing doubts, the worthless arguments should be set aside. They were never that impactful to begin with. They did not carry much weight. Still, out of weakness I may have indulged them. I may have given them more time than they deserved, but now that I understand the nature of the Supreme Lord, I am ready for real happiness.

In Closing:

With sober mind steady,
For real happiness ready.

After various arguments considered,
Settled on shastra wisdom delivered.

That the most potent is He,
Source of all happiness to see.

To whom everything owing,
Shri Rama as Truth knowing.

Categories: dohavali 121-160, the five

Tags: dohavali, hare krishna, philosophy, poem, poems, poetry, shri rama